Well, school was very different during the war. For one thing, you had to be very economical. In your jotters, you had to fill every little corner. You couldn't have big, empty spaces because paper was scarce, so your jotters had to be very, very well filled and if you wanted a new jotter, you would go out to the teacher and say, 'My jotter's full.' And she would turn over the pages. 'There's room there for that, there's room for another sum up there, so go back and fill your jotter.' And before you got a new one.

And then, it was during the war that at this time of the year, you're just back from your holidays, aren't you? No holidays at the beginning of the war. We went to school in September and we stayed at school all the time till Christmas. No breaks. But, when the war came, all the men had gone to fight and then, when the harvest came on the farms and the potatoes had to be lifted, who was going to lift them? And the answer was, the older boys and girls. And so, the older boys and girls were told they could leave school and go and be on the farms and lift the, do the harvest and do the potatoes and generally have a good time. But, because half the classes were away, the teachers said, 'This'll not do. I've only got half a class.' Another teacher said, 'I've only half a class.' And so the authorities said, 'Well, the best thing is that at this time of the year the whole school will have the holiday.' And that's how you got your break at - Well, when was it, September? Up to that time, a long, long time in school, but the break came because of the war.

This interview was recorded as part of a War Detectives project in 2005 at Cromarty Primary School.

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Interview with Mrs E J Newell about school during World War 2

ROSS: Cromarty

2000s

World War 2; World War II; Second World War; 2nd World War; audio

Am Baile and War Detectives

War Detectives (interviews)

Mrs E J Newell speaks of economies and tattie holidays in war-time schools.<br />
<br />
What was the school like during the war? <br />
<br />
Well, school was very different during the war. For one thing, you had to be very economical. In your jotters, you had to fill every little corner. You couldn't have big, empty spaces because paper was scarce, so your jotters had to be very, very well filled and if you wanted a new jotter, you would go out to the teacher and say, 'My jotter's full.' And she would turn over the pages. 'There's room there for that, there's room for another sum up there, so go back and fill your jotter.' And before you got a new one. <br />
<br />
And then, it was during the war that at this time of the year, you're just back from your holidays, aren't you? No holidays at the beginning of the war. We went to school in September and we stayed at school all the time till Christmas. No breaks. But, when the war came, all the men had gone to fight and then, when the harvest came on the farms and the potatoes had to be lifted, who was going to lift them? And the answer was, the older boys and girls. And so, the older boys and girls were told they could leave school and go and be on the farms and lift the, do the harvest and do the potatoes and generally have a good time. But, because half the classes were away, the teachers said, 'This'll not do. I've only got half a class.' Another teacher said, 'I've only half a class.' And so the authorities said, 'Well, the best thing is that at this time of the year the whole school will have the holiday.' And that's how you got your break at - Well, when was it, September? Up to that time, a long, long time in school, but the break came because of the war.<br />
<br />
This interview was recorded as part of a War Detectives project in 2005 at Cromarty Primary School.